Heikki Riihiranta

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FinlandFinland  Heikki Riihiranta Ice hockey player
Heikki Riihiranta
Date of birth October 4, 1948
place of birth Helsinki , Finland
Nickname Hexi
size 180 cm
Weight 87 kg
position defender
number # 5
Shot hand Left
Career stations
until 1967 Karhu-Kissat
1967-1974 Helsingfors IFK
1974-1977 Winnipeg Jets
1977-1983 Helsingfors IFK

Heikki Lauri Olavi "Hexi" Riihiranta (born October 4, 1948 in Helsinki ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player and official who played 191 games for the Winnipeg Jets in the World Hockey Association (WHA ) has denied in the position of defender . Riihiranta spent most of his career in his Finnish homeland at Helsingfors IFK , with whom he won five championship titles, two of which as team captain . With the Winnipeg Jets, he won the Avco World Trophy in 1976 . For his services to Finnish ice hockey, he was inducted into the Finnish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.

Career

Riihiranta went through the junior division of Karhu-Kissat , one of the numerous ice hockey clubs in his native Helsinki, during his junior years . The defender played there until shortly before his 19th birthday in 1967. In the 1965/66 season he made his debut in the professional team that played in the second-rate Suomi-sarja .

For the 1967/68 season Riihiranta moved within the Helsinki city limits to Helsingfors IFK in the higher class SM-sarja . In the service of the HIFK, the defender initially spent seven very successful years until 1974. In his second year he won the Finnish championship with the team at the end of the 1968/69 season . HIFK repeated the title win in the following year. After the team had become runner-up in 1973, the 1973/74 season saw the third title win within five years. The now 25-year-old defensive player made a large contribution to this. With 32 scorer points in 36 games, he set a new career record and was elected to the SM-sarja All-Star-Team at the end of the season.

Following this success, Riihiranta left his Finnish homeland and moved - like his compatriot Veli-Pekka Ketola from league rival Porin Ässät  - to North America. There they had been signed by the Winnipeg Jets from the World Hockey Association (WHA), where the duo went on the ice at the beginning of the 1974/75 season . At that time, the Jets signed numerous players from Scandinavia . The defender spent three years with the Jets, with whom he won the Avco World Trophy at the end of the 1976 playoffs . In the final series, they defeated last year's champions Houston Eros 4-0. During the 1976/77 season he was transferred to the Calgary Cowboys together with Ketola and Ron Ward in exchange for Danny Lawson and Mike Ford , for which he did not play a game until they were dissolved after the season.

In the summer of 1977 the Finn returned to his home country and from then on played again for Helsingfors IFK, whose team captain he was until the end of his career in 1983. Within the six seasons in the top division now operating as SM-liiga , he won two more championship titles with the team in 1980 and 1983. After winning the overall fifth title, the 34-year-old retired from the sport as an active player. As a result, the HIFK did not give its jersey number 5 to any other player.

After retiring from his career, Riihiranta paused for several years before he was signed by the Finnish ice hockey association Suomen Jääkiekkoliitto in 1992 . Between 1992 and 2003 he was the team manager of the Finnish national team . During this period he looked after the team at the eleven World Championships , four Olympic Winter Games and the 1996 World Cup of Hockey . In 1995 he won the gold medal with the team at the World Cup. It was also the first world title for the Finns. Even before his engagement, Riihiranta had been accepted into the Finnish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 as the 78th member for his services to ice hockey in Finland .

International

For his home country, Riihiranta took part with the Finnish national team in the 1972 Winter Olympics , four world championships and the first Canada Cup in 1976 .

Riihiranta made his first international appearance at the 1970 World Cup in the Swedish capital, Stockholm . There he finished fourth with the team. He achieved the same final placement with the team at the World Championships in 1972 , 1973 and 1974 . The defender played a total of 36 World Cup games in which he scored six points. Riihiranta also came to the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan , and also played the first Canada Cup in 1976 with the Finnish national team. In the medal ranks the team could not place in these competitions either.

Achievements and Awards

  • 1969 Finnish champion with Helsingfors IFK
  • 1970 Finnish champion with Helsingfors IFK
  • 1973 Finnish runner-up with Helsingfors IFK
  • 1974 Finnish champion with Helsingfors IFK
  • 1974 SM-Sarja All-Star-Team

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1964/65 Karhu-Kissat Maakuntasarja Statistics not available
1965/66 Karhu-Kissat Suomi-sariah Statistics not available
1966/67 Karhu-Kissat Suomi-sariah 13 5 3 8th 12
1967/68 Helsingfors IFK SM-sarja 20th 3 2 5 6th
1968/69 Helsingfors IFK SM-sarja 20th 3 7th 10 26th
1969/70 Helsingfors IFK SM-sarja 21st 6th 15th 21st 16
1970/71 Helsingfors IFK SM-sarja Statistics not available
1971/72 Helsingfors IFK SM-sarja 32 1 8th 9 32
1972/73 Helsingfors IFK SM-sarja 35 3 8th 11 63
1973/74 Helsingfors IFK SM-sarja 36 10 22nd 32 50
1974/75 Winnipeg Jets WHA 64 8th 14th 22nd 30th - - - - -
1975/76 Winnipeg Jets WHA 70 1 8th 9 26th 4th 0 4th 4th 6th
1976/77 Winnipeg Jets WHA 53 1 16 17th 28 - - - - -
1977/78 Helsingfors IFK SM-liiga 32 5 12 17th 54 - - - - -
1978/79 Helsingfors IFK SM-liiga 36 5 8th 13 82 6th 0 6th 6th 25th
1979/80 Helsingfors IFK SM-liiga 32 5 6th 11 41 7th 3 1 4th 12
1980/81 Helsingfors IFK SM-liiga 35 4th 8th 12 54 7th 2 0 2 12
1981/82 Helsingfors IFK SM-liiga 31 3 4th 7th 71 5 0 2 2 2
1982/83 Helsingfors IFK SM-liiga 33 0 4th 4th 17th 9 1 0 1 13
SM-sarja / SM-liiga total 363 48 104 152 512 34 6th 9 15th 64
WHA total 187 10 38 48 84 4th 0 4th 4th 6th

International

Represented Finland at:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1970 Finland WM 4th Place 6th 0 0 0 0
1972 Finland Olympia 5th place 6th 1 1 2 2
1972 Finland WM 4th Place 10 1 2 3 12
1973 Finland WM 4th Place 10 1 0 1 12
1974 Finland WM 4th Place 10 1 1 2 10
1976 Finland Canada Cup 6th place 5 0 3 3 12
Men overall 47 4th 7th 11 48

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Riihiranta, Heikki
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Riihiranta, Heikki Lauri Olavi (full name); Hexi (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish ice hockey player and official
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsinki , Finland